Reservation of digital media items

ABSTRACT

Techniques for interacting with an online media store using a first device to identify a digital media item of interest to a user of the first device, using the first device to store an interest indicator for the digital media item of interest at the online media store, and subsequently interacting with the online media store using a second device to purchase or preview the digital media item of interest as identified by the interest indicator. Additionally, ring tones and graphics associated with the digital media item of interest can also be purchased.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/622,178, filed Oct. 25, 2004, andentitled “RESERVATION OF DIGITAL MEDIA ITEMS”, which is herebyincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the purchasing of digital media itemsand, more specifically, to the use of a portable wireless device toidentify and/or purchase digital media items.

2. Description of the Related Art

Digital media items are typically played by using either a digital mediaplayer or a media management application operating on a personalcomputer. While there is some overlap between media players and personalcomputers, for example, “hip tops”, which have many of the features ofboth, each device type has limitations. For instance, media playerstypically lack effective means to connect to high-speed computernetworks and usually cannot read media files from removable storagemedia such as compact disks (CDs), while personal computers generallyare not very portable when compared to most digital media players.

Currently, online purchase of digital media items is limited to personalcomputers. There are various reasons for this limitation, including alack of functionality in an average media player. For instance, manymedia players lack sufficiently sophisticated user interfaces, havelimited processing or storage capabilities, and lack networkconnectivity.

Another type of electronic device that has limited media file playbackcapability is a portable wireless device, which includes cellular phonesand wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs). However, while some ofthese devices are capable of playing media files, they generally lackaccess to computer networks and/or lack the wireless bandwidth necessaryto transfer media files, which are typically several megabytes (MB) insize.

There are situations when it would be convenient for the user of aportable wireless device to be able to purchase digital media items froman online media store in spite of the device's limitations. Forinstance, a consumer might hear a song on the radio and desire topurchase it right away. If the consumer does not have current access toa personal computer, then it will not be possible to purchase the songimmediately. Unfortunately, by the time the consumer is able to get tohis computer, there is a significant chance he will have forgotten aboutthe song. This is a problem for both the consumer, who does not get thedesired song, and the seller of music, who loses out on the sale of thesong. Thus, there is a need for techniques to enable purchase of digitalmedia items using portable wireless devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention pertains to techniques for identifying and/or purchasingdigital media items by using a wireless non-transfer device (a ‘portablewireless device’). These techniques can allow a user of a portablewireless device to identify a digital media item on an online mediastore and mark it for download. The digital media item may then bedownloaded at a later time when the user is able to connect to theonline media store with a transfer device, typically a personal computer(e.g., a ‘host computer’). The digital media item can be purchased usingeither the non-transfer device or the transfer device. Digital mediaitems available for purchase and download can include a variety of mediafile types, including audio (e.g., MP3, MP4, AAC, WAV, etc.), video(AVI, QUICKTIME™, etc.), electronic book (eBook), as well as others.Digital media items can include music singles and music videos, forexample. Additionally, ring tones and graphics associated with thedigital media item can also be purchased.

The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as amethod, system, device, apparatus, graphical user interface, or computerreadable medium. Several embodiments of the invention are discussedbelow.

In one embodiment of the invention, a portable wireless device interactswith an online media store via a network, typically a cellular network,to select a digital media item of interest, which is marked for laterreview or purchase. Subsequent to this interaction, a second device, forexample a personal computer connected to the Internet, is used to reviewthe marked digital media item, or to download the marked digital mediaitem if it has already been purchased.

In another embodiment of the invention, a list of available digitalmedia items is obtained from an online media store and browsed using abrowser application (e.g., a WAP browser) or a media managementapplication (MMA) running on a portable wireless device. The browser orMMA is then used to purchase one or more digital media items from theonline media store. The purchased media items are marked for laterdownload to a second device, for example a personal computer connectedto the Internet.

Depending on the bandwidth available and the media playback capabilitiesof the portable wireless device, digital media items downloaded to theportable wireless device can include telephone ring-tones, music files,art graphics, and video files.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, theprinciples of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multi-device media purchase systemaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2A is a flow diagram of a media selection process according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram of a media download process according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3A shows a generalized device suitable for use as a portablewireless device according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3B shows a generalized computer system appropriate for use as ahost computer according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a client-side digital media item reservationprocess according to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a media selection process according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a multi-device media purchase systemaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention pertains to techniques for identifying and/or purchasingdigital media items by using a wireless non-transfer device (a ‘portablewireless device’). These techniques can allow a user of a portablewireless device to identify a digital media item on an online mediastore and mark it for download. The digital media item may then bedownloaded at a later time when the user is able to connect to theonline media store with a transfer device, typically a personal computer(e.g., a ‘host computer’). The digital media item can be purchased usingeither the non-transfer device or the transfer device. Digital mediaitems available for purchase and download can include a variety of mediafile types, including audio (e.g., MP3, MP4, AAC, WAV, etc.), video(AVI, QUICKTIME™, etc.), electronic book (eBook), as well as others.Digital media items can include music singles and music videos, forexample. Additionally, ring tones and graphics associated with thedigital media item can also be purchased.

A transfer device, in the context of this invention, may be defined asan electronic device that can be used to transfer or obtain digitalmedia items. Transfer may occur over a network connection, by directlink using a cable, or by copying from removable media such as a CD-ROM.Typical examples of transfer devices are media players and personalcomputers. A transfer device may or may not be capable of mediaplayback.

Non-transfer devices, in the context of this invention, are cellularphones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other similar portablewireless devices that have wireless access. Typically, non-transferdevices are not used for storage, transfer, or playback of digital mediaitems, although many such devices do have limited playback capabilities.

Media management applications (MMAs) or media players, in the context ofthis invention, include software applications that typically incorporatethe ability to do one or more of the following: play, browse, organize,purchase, and/or transfer digital media items between devices, includingto portable media players (e.g., MP3 or MPEG4 players).

Embodiments of the invention are discussed below with reference to FIGS.1-6. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that thedetailed description given herein with respect to these figures is forexplanatory purposes as the invention extends beyond these limitedembodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a multi-device media purchase system 100according to one embodiment of the invention. The multi-device mediapurchase system 100 includes an online media store server 102. Theonline media store server 102 stores a plurality of available digitalmedia items that can be purchased via client devices over a network. Asshown in FIG. 1, the multi-device media purchase system 100 includes afirst client device 104 and a second client device 106. The first clientdevice 104 is a wireless device that couples to a low-bandwidth network108 (e.g., wireless network). The low-bandwidth network 108 in turncouples to a gateway 110 that links the low-bandwidth network 108 to ahigh-bandwidth network 112 (e.g., wired network). As an example, thehigh-bandwidth network 112 can generally be referred to as a wide areanetwork or the Internet. The second client device 106 couples to thehigh-bandwidth network 112. Additionally, the online media storageserver 102 couples to the high-bandwidth network 112. In oneimplementation, the low-bandwidth network 108 can refer to a lowdata-bandwidth wireless network, such as current cellular telephonenetworks, and the high-bandwidth network 112 can refer to highdata-bandwidth networks, namely, wired networks, such as Ethernet,Gigabit Ethernet, and fiber optic, as well as wireless networks such asIEEE 802.11(a)(b) or (g) (WiFi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMax), and Ultra-WideBand (UWB).

According to the invention, a user at the first client device 104 caninteract with the online media store server 102 via the low-bandwidthnetwork 108 and the high-bandwidth network 112. In this way, the user atthe first client device 104 can browse, preview, mark or purchase one ormore digital media items available on the online media store server 102.The mark or purchase operations usually require the user to firstidentify one or more digital media items of interest. The identifieddigital media item(s) of interest can then be marked (for review or forpurchase) or purchased. Typically, however, the first client device 104is a device that does not desire to have the identified digital mediaitem(s) downloaded from the online media store server 102 to the firstclient device 104 via the low-bandwidth network 108, but rather toanother device. Downloading of digital media items over thelow-bandwidth network 108 can be slow and costly given that the filesize of the digital media items tend to be large.

In some embodiments, the first client device does not want to receivethe selected digital media item at all because it is not capable ofplaying or otherwise utilizing the selected digital media item.Nevertheless, the user, or an affiliated user, at the second clientdevice 106 is interested in having the selected digital media itemstored to the second client device 106. Accordingly, the selecteddigital media item that was selected through use of the first clientdevice 104, can be subsequently downloaded from the online media storeserver 102 to the second client device 106. Typically, the connection ofthe second client device 106 to the online media store server 102 is viathe high-bandwidth network 112, which offers sufficient bandwidthcapacity. As such, the invention offers a convenient way for the user atthe first client device 104 to indicate (e.g., bookmark) an interest inat least one digital media item available on the online media storeserver 102, yet defers the downloading of the data for the selecteddigital media item until the user (or an affiliated user) couples to theonline media store server 102 via the second client device 106 andindicates a desire to receive the download. The purchase for the digitalmedia item, if required, can be processed by the user at either thefirst client device 104 or the second client device 106.

FIG. 2A is a flow diagram of a media selection process 200 according toone embodiment of the invention. The media selection process 200 is, forexample, performed by an online media store server when interacting witha client device. For example, the online media store server can be theonline media store server 102 illustrated in FIG. 1, and the clientdevice can be the first client device 104 illustrated in FIG. 1. In thisembodiment, the client device can also be considered a non-transferdevice.

The media selection process 200 begins with a decision 202 thatdetermines whether a browse request has been received at the onlinemedia store server. When the decision 202 determines that a browserequest has been received, a list of digital media items is returned 204to the client device. Following the block 204 or the decision 202 whenthe decision 202 determines that a browse request has not been received,a decision 206 determines whether a deferred purchase request (orinterest indicator) has been received at the online media store server.When the decision 206 determines that a deferred purchase request hasbeen received, the user of the client device is authenticated 208. Forexample, the authentication may require the user to input a user nameand/or password. Next, a selected digital media item is marked 210 forsubsequent purchase. Here, the deferred purchase request identifies aselected digital media item that is presumably of interest to the userof the client device. In one embodiment, the selected digital media itemis marked 210 at the online media store server with reference to anaccount of the user so that it may be subsequently purchased. In oneembodiment, the marking 210 causes an interest indicator for theselected digital media item to be stored at the online media store.Alternatively, when the decision 206 determines that a deferred purchaserequest has not been received, the blocks 208 and 210 are bypassed.

Next, following the block 210 or the decision 206 when a deferredpurchase request has not been received, a decision 212 determineswhether a deferred download request has been received. When the decision212 determines that a deferred download request has been received, theuser is authenticated 214. Again, as an example, the user can beauthenticated by requiring the user to enter a user name and/orpassword. Then, purchase of the selected digital media item is initiated216. Here, the user interacting at the client device requests that theselected digital media item be purchased. The user, after beingauthenticated, is known by the online media store server, such that theuser's account can be debited for the purchase being made. The selecteddigital media item is thereafter marked 218 for subsequent download.Alternatively, when the decision 212 determines that a deferred downloadrequest has not been received, the blocks 214-216 are bypassed.

In any case, following the block 218 or following the decision 212 whena deferred download request has not been received, the media selectionprocess 200 can return to repeat the decision 202 and subsequent blocks.However, it should be noted that the media selection process 200 canfurther include various other processing operations for different typesof requests. For example, another type of request can be a request tomark for review a selected digital media item. Here, the user of a firstdevice would, using the first device, mark a selected digital mediaitem, but would not indicate a desire to purchase the selected digitalmedia item, such that the user of a second device would review theselected digital media item and possibly purchase it at that time.Various other processing operations can also be performed. For example,an audio file, such as a ring tone, associated with the selected digitalmedia item can also be made available for download by the user of thefirst device or the second device.

FIG. 2B is a flow diagram of a media download process 250 according toone embodiment of the invention. The media download process 250 is, forexample, performed by an online media store server when interacting witha client device. For example, the client device can be the second clientdevice 106 illustrated in FIG. 1. Typically, the client device is adevice that desires to store the digital media item for subsequentplayback or other use. In this embodiment, the client device can also beconsidered a transfer device.

The media download process 250 initially authenticates 252 the user ofthe client device. Assuming successful authentication, a decision 254then determines whether a digital media item is marked for the user(e.g., whether an interest indicator for the digital media item has beenstored on the server). When the decision 254 determines that a digitalmedia item is marked for the user, a decision 256 determines whetherpurchase of the digital media item that is marked has been successfullycompleted. When the decision 256 determines that purchase for thedigital media item has not been completed, then purchase of the digitalmedia item is processed 258. Thereafter, following the block 258 orfollowing the decision 256 when the purchase has previously beencompleted, a decision 260 determines whether download of the digitalmedia item is desired. Here, in one embodiment, the user of the clientdevice can determine whether they desire to receive the download of thedigital media item at this time. When the decision 260 determines thatthe download of the digital media item is desired, then the digitalmedia item is downloaded 262 to the client device. Alternatively, whenthe decision 260 determines that download is not desired at this time,the block 262 is bypassed so that the digital media item is notdownloaded to the client device at this time. Alternatively, when thedecision 254 determines that there is no digital media item marked forthe user, then the media download process 250 bypasses blocks 256-262.Hence, following the block 262 or its being bypassed via the decision254 or 260, other processing can be performed 264. One example of otherprocessing is to play the downloaded digital media item at the clientdevice. Following the block 264, the media download process 250 iscomplete and ends.

FIG. 3A shows a generalized device suitable for use as a portablewireless device 305 (non-transfer device) according to one embodiment ofthe invention. The portable wireless device 305 includes a display 310used to view text or graphics, an antenna 315 for connecting to awireless network such as a cellular phone network or wireless datanetwork, and a control panel 320 such as a keypad or touchpad. Browsing,marking and/or purchasing media items according to several of theembodiments detailed in this application may be accomplished by using abrowser application such as a WAP browser (not shown). Additionally,portable wireless device 305 contains one or more of the following (notshown): one or more speakers, a microphone, a headphone jack, a port forconnecting with a transfer device (e.g., FireWire® or USB port), one ormore slots to accept flash memory cards (e.g., CompactFlash (CF) orSmartMedia (SM) cards), and one or more antennae or ports used toconnect to a local networks, for example, Bluetooth®, infrared (IR), orWiFi (IEEE 802.11). Contained within portable wireless device 305 issystem memory (not shown), which may include both volatile andnonvolatile memory and, optionally, a hard drive (not shown).

FIG. 3B shows a generalized computer system 325 appropriate for use as apersonal computer (transfer device) according to one embodiment of theinvention. Computer system 325 includes a display monitor 328 havingsingle or multi-screen displays 330 (or multiple displays), cabinet 332,keyboard 334, and mouse 336. Cabinet 332 houses a drive 338, such as aCD-ROM or floppy drive, system memory and a hard drive (not shown) whichmay be utilized to store and retrieve software programs incorporatingcomputer code that implements the present invention, data for use withthe invention, and the like. Although CD-ROM 340 is shown as anexemplary computer readable storage medium, other computer readablestorage media including floppy disk, tape, flash memory, system memory,and hard drive may be utilized. Additionally, a data signal embodied ina carrier wave (e.g., in a network including the Internet) may be thecomputer readable storage medium. In one implementation, an operatingsystem for the computer system 325 is provided in the system memory, thehard drive, the CD-ROM 340 or other computer readable storage medium andserves to incorporate the computer code that implements the invention.

FIG. 4A illustrates a flow diagram of a client-side digital media itemreservation process 400 according to one embodiment of the invention.This embodiment uses a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) compatiblebrowser or another application suitable for wireless interaction with anonline media store. Client-side digital media item reservation process400 begins with decision 401, which determines if at least one suitableapplication is available (e.g., a portable wireless device). Besides aWAP browser, other suitable applications include native (platformdependent) and non-native (platform-independent) applications whicheither come pre-installed on the device or are installed by the deviceuser. Suitable applications may be obtained and installed using a widevariety of methods. For example, a user can download the applicationover a computer network (or copy it from a removable storage media suchas a CD ROM) onto a personal computer and install the application on theclient device via a physical link (e.g., a cable) or a wirelessconnection (e.g., Bluetooth® or IR). Alternately, the application can bedownloaded over a wireless network (or copied from a removable storagemedia such as a flash card). Further, the application can be transferredbetween client devices using a physical link or a wireless connection.Other ways to obtain a suitable application are possible and willreadily occur to those skilled in the art.

Returning to FIG. 4A, if decision 401 determines that at least oneapplication suitable for wireless communication with an online mediastore is available, client-side digital media item reservation process400 continues with the user starting 403 a suitable application from alist of available applications (if more than one is available).Otherwise, if no suitable application is available, then process 400ends. Note that, if both a WAP browser and one or more suitable nativeapplications are available, then the user may choose any of themaccording to his or her preference. Next, a decision 405 determines ifthe selected application is a WAP browser. If so, the browser isdirected 407 to an online media store, for example, directly or by theuser selecting a hyperlink or inputting a uniform resource locator(URL).

When discussing native applications for specific portable wirelessdevices, it is noted that many wireless-enabled PDAs and cellular phoneshave the capacity to run native applications, thus allowing third-partydevelopers to create applications which more efficiently utilize thecapabilities of a particular platform than is possible with aplatform-independent application. Examples include cellular phones andPDA's running the Palm OS® or Windows® operating systems for mobiledevices. Other alternatives include portable wireless devices runningNokia Corporation's Symbian OS® or Qualcomm's Binary Runtime forWireless Environment® (BREW™). Many of these portable wireless devicesare also able to run non-native (i.e., platform-independent)applications such as, for example, JAVA™ applets. It is generallyunderstood, however, by those skilled in the art that non-nativesoftware is often less suitable than native software in many situations,such as when the software needs to be able to play media files. Thisproblem is primarily due to limitations in current platform-independentsoftware platforms, which are likely to improve in the foreseeablefuture. Accordingly, according to this particular embodiment of theinvention, native applications are currently preferred over non-nativeapplications. It is foreseeable that non-native applications will soonbe well-suited for the purposes of the present invention. Thus, althoughthe use of non-native applications will not be discussed further, it isunderstood for the purposes of this application that the invention issuitable for use with non-native applications.

A user may prefer to use a native software application over a WAPbrowser for a variety of reasons. A native application designedspecifically for communication with an online media store will likelyhave an improved user interface, the capability to play a wider varietyof media types, improved download and file management, and otheradvantages which might be lacking in a general-purpose browserapplication.

Returning to FIG. 4A, once the user has directed 407 the WAP browser tothe online media store, client-side digital media item reservationprocess 400 continues to decision 409, which determines if a suitablenative software application is available for the portable wirelessdevice. This determination 409 can be automatic due to, for instance, acommunication between the portable wireless device and the online mediastore server, or initiated by the portable wireless device user, who maybe given the option to search (not shown) the media store fordevice-specific software. Optional decision 410 follows, wherein process400 determines if the user has previously declined to install a nativeapplication for the portable wireless device. Decision 410 can beimplemented in the case that decision 409 occurs automatically, so as toprevent the user or portable wireless device from having to repeatedlyanswer the query posed by decision 411 every time the online media storeis revisited. If decision 410 determines that the user has previouslydeclined to install an available native software application, thenprocess 400 skips decision 411 and continues to transition ‘A’ andsubsequent blocks (discussed below). Alternately, decision 410 candirect the user or portable wireless device to decision 411 periodically(e.g., after a pre-set time period or when a new version of the nativesoftware application is available).

If a suitable native software application is available and decision 410is affirmative, then decision 411 queries the user of the portablewireless device to determine if the user wants to install the nativesoftware application. If the user elects to install the application, theuser is directed to download 413 and install 415 the application. Oncethe native software application has been installed, process 400 returnsto block 403 and subsequent blocks.

Returning to decision 405 in FIG. 4A, if the application selected by theuser in block 403 is a native application, then the selected nativeapplication is directed 409 to the online media store, either in amanner similar to that described for the WAP browser in operation 407,or according to directions which have been preprogrammed into theapplication (by the software developer or by the user). Next, process400 continues to transition ‘A’ and subsequent blocks.

Returning to decision 411 in FIG. 4A, if it is determined that the userdoes not want to install a native application, then process 400continues to transition ‘A’ and subsequent blocks.

Once client-side digital media item reservation process 400 reachestransition ‘A’ (via operation 409, or via decisions 410 or 411), itcontinues on to operation 450 and subsequent blocks, which areillustrated in FIG. 4B. In particular, client-side digital media itemreservation process 400 continues after transition ‘A’, allowing theuser to use the current application, which can be a WAP browser ornative software application as described above, to browse 450 a list ofavailable digital media items. In one embodiment of the invention,digital media items available for download from the media store areselected according to a media selection process 500, discussed below inreference to FIG. 5. Digital media item types can include, for example,music singles, music albums, videos, motion pictures, and electronicbooks (eBooks). Additionally, if the portable wireless device hascellular phone features, the list may include ring tones compatible withthe make and model of that particular portable wireless device.

Next, the user selects from a list of choices represented by operations451 through 465. The list of operations is exemplary only and is notintended to be a comprehensive listing of all possible choices. Otherchoices may be added without changing the scope of the invention. Also,not all of the operations 451 through 465 need be presented in the listof choices.

Operations 451, 453, 455, and 459 each represent commercialtransactions. A user may, for example, choose to mark 451 a digitalmedia item for purchase (e.g., store an interest indicator for thedigital media item), purchase 453 a ring tone, purchase 455 anelectronic copy of a picture or graphic, or mark 459 a collection ofdigital media items for purchase.

Marking 451 a digital media item for purchase allows the user to selectand pay for a digital media item using the portable wireless device.However, the digital media item is not downloaded to the portablewireless device in this case. Instead, the digital media item is markedby the media store as a purchased digital media item for subsequentdownload. At some point in the future, when the user logs on to theonline media store with a personal computer (transfer device), the mediastore will alert the user that a previously purchased digital media itemis available for download.

Purchasing 453 a ring tone is an available option for portable wirelessdevices which incorporate telephone or alarm capabilities. In oneembodiment of the invention, ring tones available for download from themedia store are selected according to a media selection process 500,discussed below in reference to FIG. 5. Ring tones purchased 453 may bedownloaded immediately or at some future time, according to the user'spreference. Alternately, ring tones may be automatically downloaded tothe portable wireless device during off-peak hours, thus allowing a userwho has selected a wireless usage plan that charges less for off-peakdownloads to take advantage of cheaper rates without having to completethe purchase 453 during peak hours.

Purchasing 455 an art graphic (e.g., an electronic image such as a JPEG)functions similarly to purchasing 453 a ring tone. However, the user maychoose to purchase an art graphic for download to the portable wirelessdevices or mark the art graphic for download to a personal computer at alater time, much like marking 451 a digital media item for purchase,described above.

Marking 459 a collection of digital media items for purchase functionssimilarly to the marking in operation 451. However, marking 459 canallow the user to mark multiple items in a collection (e.g., a musicalbum) at the same time. Marking 459 a collection of digital media itemsmight be advantageous to the user in terms of pricing (i.e., a discountfor buying multiple items at once). Note that any combination of digitalmedia items may be contained within a collection. For example, a usercan purchase a complete package associated with a particular musicsingle which includes the download of a ring tone and a graphic file forthe portable wireless device, and the marking of a high quality musicfile, a high quality graphic, and a high quality music video file fordownload.

Operations 461, 463, and 465 each represent non-commercial transactions.A user may, for example, choose to preview 461 a digital media item,send 463 a message about a digital media item, or mark 465 a digitalmedia item for future review.

A preview 461 can be, for example, a short, low quality snippet of anavailable digital media item, and can be streamed or downloaded to theportable wireless device. Some clients may not be capable of previewing461 one or more media file types, so this option will not always beavailable to all portable wireless devices.

Messages sent 463 to a friend regarding one or more of an availabledigital media items in the list can be, for example, e-mail messagesincluding text and/or graphics, text messages, or multimedia messages.See, for example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/910,555, filedAug. 2, 2004, and entitled “Method and System for Sharing Informationabout Media Items”, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

Marking 465 of one or more digital media items for review allows a userto defer reviewing a digital media item until a later time. When theuser logs on to the media store using a personal computer, the user willreceive a message or some other notification that one or more digitalmedia items have been marked for review.

If any commercial transaction is selected (including, but not limited tocommercial transactions represented by operations 451, 453, 455, and459), client-side digital media item reservation process 400 continuesto operation 467, where the user provides authentication information,such as user name and password, in order to authorize the purchase.Another method of authentication is by directly using a user's cellularphone account information and a personal identification number (PIN).Other known user authentication procedures may also be used. Once anynon-commercial transaction is completed (including, but not limited to,non-commercial transactions represented by operations 461, 463, and 465)are performed, process 400 continues to decision 469 and subsequentblocks. Next, decision 469 determines if the user wants to continuebrowsing and/or shopping. If so, client-side digital media itemreservation process 400 returns to perform block 450 and subsequentblocks. If no, process 400 ends.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of a media selection process 500according to one embodiment of the invention. Media selection process500 serves to produce a subset of digital media items (e.g., the ‘mediaselections list’) available from a primary online media store (which isonly accessible by personal computers) for use in a secondary onlinemedia store (which is typically only accessible by portable wirelessdevices). This is useful due to the limitations of many portablewireless devices, both in terms of processing/storage and data bandwidthavailable for downloading. In order to account for these limitations,marketing/sales/licensing criteria are used to determine which digitalmedia items will be available for selection by a user accessing asecondary online media store using a portable wireless device. Forinstance, the criterion used might be the most popular digital mediaitems available at the online media store. Alternately, a digital mediaitem that is being aggressively marketed may be included in thecriteria, in spite of the fact that is not popular. Licensing criteriais included because not every digital media item may be licensed for allmedia categories. By way of specific example, not every song which isdownloadable for playback on a media player may be licensed for downloadas a ring tone on a cellular phone.

Media selection process 500 begins by obtaining 501marketing/sales/licensing criteria for selection for use in creating themedia selections list. The criteria may have been previously entered(e.g., manually, or by a system administrator) or can be derived fromstatistical sales data taken from a primary online media store. Theprocess 500 continues by selecting 503 a media category (e.g., popularmusic), followed by selecting 504 an item in that particular mediacategory. Next, decision 505 determines whether the currently selecteditem meets the criteria for selection. If the digital media item meetsthe criteria, the item is added 507 to a temporary sub-list (e.g., the‘media category selections list’). If the digital media item does notmeet the required criteria, then decision 505 returns process 500 tooperation 503 and subsequent blocks. Returning to operation 507, once adigital media item has been added to the media category selections list,decision 509 determines if more digital media items are available in thecurrently selected media category. If so, decision 509 returns process500 to operation 503 and subsequent blocks. On the other hand, if nomore items are available in the category, the process continues todecision 511, which, in turn, determines whether or not there are moremedia categories to be examined. If more categories are available, thenprocess 500 adds 513 the list of digital media items for that particularcategory to the digital media item selections list and returns tooperation 503 and subsequent blocks. Alternately, the categoryselections list is added 515 to the digital media item selections listand media selection process 500 ends. The result is a list of digitalmedia items selected to be featured on a secondary online media store,arranged by category. Of course, other list arrangements are possible.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a computing environment 600 according toone embodiment of the invention. The computing environment 600 includesone or more computer servers, including at least one primary onlinemedia store server 601, one or more secondary online media storeservers, which can be, for example, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)servers 603, or HTML servers 605. Primary online media store servers 601are configured to communicate with personal computers 609 via a computernetwork 613 (e.g., the Internet). Secondary media store servers 603 and605 are configured to communicate with portable wireless devices 615(such as cell phones). Additionally, one or more media transcodingservers 607, which are used to convert media file formats, may beconnected to computer network 613. Media transcoding servers 607 areused to convert one media format to another. For instance, a file in MP3format may be transcoded into AAC, WMA, or a ring tone format.Similarly, a music file may be converted into a MIDI file. Alternately,a high quality media file may be converted into a low quality mediafile.

Typically, computing environment 600 includes a plurality of differentpersonal computers 609, which are connected to at least part of datanetwork 613. Personal computers 609 are typically classified as transferdevices. Portable wireless devices 615 are typically classified asnon-transfer devices. Depending on the capabilities of individualportable wireless devices 615, connections will be made to compatiblesecondary media store servers. For example, some portable wirelessdevices 615 can only connect to WAP enabled secondary media storeservers 603. Other portable wireless devices can only connect to HTMLenabled secondary media store servers 605. A third category of portablewireless device can connect to either WAP or HTML servers. A fourthpossible category is able to connect directly to primary online mediastore servers 601. Portable wireless devices of this type are consideredtransfer devices and are classified as personal computers 609 for thepurposes of this application. The various servers 601-607 can beremotely located on multiple computer systems or centrally located on acommon computer system.

The invention is preferably implemented by software, but can also beimplemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software. Theinvention can also be embodied as computer readable code on a computerreadable medium. The computer readable medium is any data storage devicethat can store data which can thereafter be read by a computer system,including both transfer and non-transfer devices as defined above.Examples of the computer readable medium include read-only memory,random-access memory, CD-ROMs, flash memory cards, DVDs, magnetic tape,optical data storage devices, and carrier waves. The computer readablemedium can also be distributed over network-coupled computer systems sothat the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributedfashion.

The many features and advantages of the present invention are apparentfrom the written description and, thus, it is intended by the appendedclaims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention.Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur tothose skilled in the art, the invention should not be limited to theexact construction and operation as illustrated and described. Hence,all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to as fallingwithin the scope of the invention.

1. A method for identifying a digital media item of interest that is oneof a plurality of digital media items available for download from anonline media store, said method comprising: interacting with the onlinemedia store via a first device to identify a digital media item ofinterest to a user of the first device; marking the digital media itemof interest at the online media store with an interest indicator;storing, at the online media store, the interest indicator for themarked digital media item of interest for subsequent downloading; andsubsequently downloading, to a second device when the second deviceinteracts with the online media store, the digital media item ofinterest indicated by the interest indicator.
 2. A method as recited inclaim 1, wherein said interacting is over a low-bandwidth network, andsaid downloading is over a high-bandwidth network.
 3. A method asrecited in claim 1, wherein said marking is at the request of the userof the first device.
 4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein saidmethod further comprises: downloading, to the second device, anadditional digital media item that is associated with the digital mediaitem of interest as previously marked by the user of the first device.5. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein the additional digital mediaitem is a ring tone.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first deviceis a cellular phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA).
 7. The methodas recited in claim 1, wherein the first device is a portable wirelessdevice.
 8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the first deviceoperates a wireless browser to assist the user of the first device withsaid interacting with the online media store.
 9. The method as recitedin claim 1, wherein the second device operates a browser application toassist the user with said interacting with the online media store andsaid subsequent downloading of the digital media item of interest fromthe online media store to the second device.
 10. The method as recitedin claim 1, wherein the second device is a personal computer.
 11. Themethod as recited in claim 1, further comprising: determining, at theonline media store, if a media management application is available forthe first device; downloading, from the online media store, a mediamanagement application; installing the media management application onthe first device; and wherein said interacting comprises marking adigital media item for purchase using the media management application.12. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the digital media item isselected from the group consisting of a music single, a music video, anelectronic book (eBook), and an art graphic.
 13. The method as recitedin claim 12, wherein the digital media item is a compilation of digitalmedia items.
 14. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein theinteracting further comprises connecting to a high-bandwidth networkusing a gateway after connecting to the low-bandwidth network.
 15. Themethod as recited in claim 14, wherein an online media server host theonline media store, and wherein the interest indicator is stored at theonline media server with reference to a user account associated with theuser of the first device.
 16. The method as recited in claim 1, whereinthe interest indicator is a review indicator or a purchase indicator.17. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the subsequentlydownloading further comprises authenticating the user of the firstdevice.
 18. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the subsequentlydownloading further comprises authenticating the user of the seconddevice.
 19. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the interactingfurther comprises purchasing the digital media item of interest, andwherein the marking further comprises indicating the digital media itemof interest is a purchased digital media item for subsequentdownloading.
 20. A method for identifying a digital media item ofinterest that is one of a plurality of digital media items available fordownload from an online media store, said method comprising: interactingwith the online media store over a low-bandwidth network via a firstdevice to identify a digital media item of interest to a user of thefirst device; marking the digital media item of interest at the onlinemedia store with an interest indicator; storing, at the online mediastore, the interest indicator for the digital media item of interest forsubsequent downloading; subsequently downloading over a high-bandwidthnetwork, to a second device when the second device interacts with theonline media store, the digital media item of interest indicated by theinterest indicator; and downloading, to the second device, an additionaldigital media item that is associated with the digital media item ofinterest as previously marked by the user of the first device.
 21. Themethod as recited in claim 20, wherein the first device is a portablewireless device.
 22. The method as recited in claim 20, wherein thesecond device is a personal computer.
 23. The method as recited in claim20, wherein the digital media item is selected from the group consistingof a music single, a music video, an electronic book (eBook), and an artgraphic.
 24. The method as recited in claim 23, wherein the digitalmedia item is a compilation of digital media items.
 25. The method asrecited in claim 20, wherein the interacting further comprisesconnecting to a high-bandwidth network using a gateway.
 26. The methodas recited in claim 20, wherein an online media server host the onlinemedia store, and wherein the interest indicator is stored at the onlinemedia server with reference to a user account associated with the userof the first device.
 27. The method as recited in claim 20, wherein themarking further comprises indicating that the digital media item is forreview or purchase.
 28. The method as recited in claim 20, wherein thesubsequently downloading further comprises authenticating the user ofthe first device.
 29. The method as recited in claim 20, wherein thesubsequently downloading further comprises authenticating the user ofthe second device.
 30. A program storage device readable by a machinetangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machineto perform a method for identifying a digital media item of interestthat is one of a plurality of digital media items available for downloadfrom an online media store, the method comprising: interacting with theonline media store via a first device to identify a digital media itemof interest to a user of the first device; marking the digital mediaitem of interest at the online media store with an interest indicator;storing, at the online media store, the interest indicator for themarked digital media item of interest for review at a later date; andsubsequently downloading, to a second device when the second deviceinteracts with the online media store, the digital media item ofinterest indicated by the interest indicator.